Balboa Press – Reviewed

Balboa Press is the paid-publishing division of self-help book publisher Hay House Publishing. All their packages and services are administered and powered by Author Solutions (ASI), a global provider of self-publishing services and solutions. ASI has similar partnerships in place with other mainstream publishers and these types of self-publishing service divisions look set to become more commonplace in the publishing industry.

“Today is the day for you to pursue your dreams and discover the author within you. At Balboa Press, a division of Hay House, we’re committed to helping you start your journey in book publishing.”

This is part of the headline on the main webpage of Balboa Press—not a great start—and evidence Balboa Press are inviting new and potentially inexperienced authors into a dream world rather than introducing them to the down-to-earth practicalities and realities of self-publishing a book. I really do wish paid-publishing divisions like Balboa Press would refrain from indulging in this sort of rose-tinted marketing of their services. They are not the first to do it and they will not be the last. It is clear ASI has had a very strong hand in how Balboa Press is marketed for Hay House Publishing. We have become pretty familiar with the ‘pursue your dream’ market tool with ASI’s own stable of author solutions services like AuthorHouse, iUniverse, Trafford and Xlibris.

“At Balboa Press, a division of Hay House, we help authors self-publish books that empower and improve the lives of others. Specializing in the mind, body and spirit genre, Balboa Press is your gateway into the world of publishing. By relying on our publishing, design and marketing services, you can achieve your goals and explore the new opportunities that await you as a published author.

As a division of Hay House, Balboa Press titles are monitored regularly by the parent company. Hay House is one of the fastest-growing self-help and transformational publishers in the world and hopes to find through Balboa Press new inspiring authors that display their potential to add to their catalog.

Our books are printed using print-on-demand technology so we print each book to order. Not only is this method of printing mindful of our planet because no books go to waste, but it is mindful of our authors too. As an author, you are never required to shoulder the cost and hassle of printing, storing and transporting large quantities of your book. When a book is ordered by a reader, a retailer or the author, it is printed and shipped in a matter of days.”

The inference here is that Balboa Press wants to be consistent with the types of books published by parent company Hay House Publishing and they would seem to suggest they do not envisage Balboa Press as an all-out self-publishing service. But to achieve this, Balboa Press would have to employ a submission filter that tells Aunt Maple that her submitted book of great American recipes will not find a home at Balboa Press, and nor for that matter will any author submitting the next great American novel. I do not see ASI putting any filters in place. If they did, it would be the first for this kind of partnership.

A quick look at the Editorial Standards for Balboa Press reveals that Aunt Maple, her recipes and the great American novel can all rest assured that they will live on, even under the Balboa Press imprint.

“Balboa Press is committed to helping authors publish books with a positive slant that help people improve their lives and are conducive to healing planet Earth. Based on this mission, we have established these editorial standards for our titles.

We publish books that are related to the mind-body-spirit subject matter and that are in line with our core values: to help people improve their lives and the Earth. While we do specialize in self-help books, we publish a wide range of genres that adhere to these standards, including children’s, photography, fiction, poetry, cookbooks and more.”

‘Photography, fiction, poetry, cookbooks, including children’s’—(children’s what?)—add this to a list of ‘astrology, alternative health, angels, pet care, finance, nutrition, parenting, psychology, sociology, meditation, spirituality, numerology, color therapy, feng shui, business, autobiographies, social commentary, memoirs and more.’ What an absolute cop-out! This is no mission statement or core value. Throw in sport and politics and we are ready to open a Barnes & Noble store! This is pretty much as open-ended an editorial/genre policy as you can get. It would have been quicker for Balboa Press to tell us they don’t accept, like horror, crime or pornography.

While Balboa Press seem to want to express a caring attitude to their potential authors, it will be interesting to take a close look at their publishing packages and actually see if ‘you are never required to shoulder the cost and hassle of printing, storing and transporting large quantities of your book.’ The new and inexperienced authors Balboa Press are appealing to could perhaps be forgiven for assuming they won’t have to pay for any printing costs regardless of how small an amount of books are printed. Balboa Press is of course referring to the fact that all books will be printed on demand. Nothing is coming free here.

Your journey begins here with one of our nine versatile and affordable publishing packages. Each package offers a wide suite of services designed to help you fulfill your destiny and give you the book you deserve. Your book is destined to go forth and touch the lives of people and our planet Earth, but you don’t need to walk that journey alone. Explore our various publishing packages and find the one that helps you meet your destiny.”

The language is now starting to become a little tiring—‘fulfill your destiny’, ‘Your book is destined to go forth…’ and ‘find the one that helps you meet your destiny.’ If you are not already dizzy with the dream and destiny speak from Balboa Press—let me bring you crashing down to earth. The nine packages on offer range from $999 to $7999 and in case you are still in seventh heaven, you the author are paying for these services out of your pocket.

All the above are part of the Embark Package ($999), and the following are what is added to each package.

Connect Package ($1599)

20 Free Author Copies – (Why do self-publishing services insist on calling these ‘free’. They are not. They are paid for by the fee charged to an author in the package price)

Hardcover edition of your book – (5 author copies provided)

Library of Congress Control Number – (Free government service – 1 copy of book required to be lodged with library)

Barnes & Noble See Inside Program – (Free load-up service to publishers)

Amazon Search Inside – (Free load-up service to publishers)

So, let us reflect here. The author pays $600 more than the Embark Package for the Connect Package and gets a hardback edition (files already created with paperback edition, so the only additional outlay for Balboa Press is the cost of the ISBN and print set-up), an LCCN and search inside programs with two online retailers (free services). Estimated cost to publisher – $150app. Cost to author $600 (ching-ching)!

All of the Media Set-up package comprises of free social media services. Cost to publisher – about two hours of their time. Cost to author – $799 (ching-ching)! Bluntly put—if you are too lazy as an author to set-up these social network sites yourself, and would rather part with $799 of your own money, quite frankly, you really have more money than sense.

Radio/TV Interview Report Ad – ($895, a half-page ad for you are your book in RTIR, trade media publication)

Editorial Review – ($349)

“The Balboa Press Editorial Review examines a portion of your work (typically the first chapter or about 1,700 words) and gives you a specific sample edit. This edit includes changes you can make to improve your book as well as a general overview of your manuscript with constructive comments for improvement. To be clear, this is not a full manuscript edit and should not replace the rest of Balboa Press’ editorial services.”

Master Package ($7999)

80 Paperback Copies

25 Hardback Copies

Index Service Up to 1000 words – ($480, author must select what the key words are!)

Video Voice Trailer – ($4799, 60-90sec film)

“Make the words and stories within your book come to life with a Video Book Trailer with Voiceover. A professional filmmaker will take the words of your book, shoot live footage that fits your book and combine creative and informative dialogue to overlay over the live footage. The result is a high-quality video book trailer readers will be drawn to as they anticipate your reading your book.”

Are we still in dream world after all that?

…didn’t think so.

Balboa Press offer three color packages and pretty much offer similar features as the Core Packages.

Imagine ($1299)

Emerge ($1599)

Believe ($2199)

Authors receive discount off the retail price on books they order, however, these copies exclude royalty payments and cannot be included in the Book Returns Program. An author’s first book order qualifies for a 50% discount, but only if that order is for more than 150 copies. Otherwise, discounts start at 20% for 1 to 24 paperback copies, and 30% for 1 to 24 hardback/color copies continuing on a rising scale up to 65% for 2000 copies.

E-Book Royalties“You will receive 50 percent of the payments received from the sales of your e-book, less any distribution and technology fees, taxes and returns. Royalties will not be paid on copies provided free of charge or sold to the author.”

Distribution Royalties“Here’s an example of a common sales transaction:The cover price (list price) for your book is $17.95. Your Balboa Press royalty rate is 50 percent. A retailer places an order for your book through Ingram Book Company, a wholesaler. Ingram, in turn, purchases your book from Balboa Press at a 48 percent discount (our standard discount to wholesalers). Ingram then resells the book to the retailer. Your royalty on this sale of your soft cover book will be calculated as follows:

I only hope the retail book example used by Balboa Press is not reflective of a common retail price for their books, because if it is, it is way over the market competition. Likewise their ‘Cost of Goods Sold’ does not reflect whether this is just the print cost or there are other production costs built into that figure. While I appreciate there is different wholesaler and retailer discounts offered, depending on the channel of sale, I would prefer to see a little more transparency. Mainstream publishers generally offer author discounts based on the percentage of the retail price, usually 6 – 8% on paperback books.

Royalties are paid four times a year, but only when the total royalty amount for the due period exceeds $75.

Balboa provides individual services that can be viewed here and here, though we touched on some of those services as part of the breakdown of the publishing packages.

“By choosing to publish with Balboa Press, you not only align yourself with a publisher that shares your values, but you also receive benefits you won’t find with any other self-publishing companies. Our professional staff works with you to ensure your book meets industry standards, but that your vision is communicated clearly.”

Actually, the reality is you are not aligning yourself with Hay House Publishing whatever the above quote might suggest or allude to. You are aligning yourself and your book with Author Solutions (ASI), the author solutions company who run and provide the publishing services for Balboa Press.

Overall, Balboa Press, as a paid-publishing service, needs to be more transparent about this operation. Nowhere do they mention the involvement of Author Solutions, and the continued implication is that an author is paying for services and work carried out by staff aligned directly with Hay House Publishing. That, or Hay House Publishing are suggesting Author Solutions share the same core values and are equipped with the same publishing experience as Hay House.

Beyond the Embark package at $999 (already priced at twice its true value), authors are being asked to pay for services which are either free or inflated beyond their true value. The Social Media Set-Up service is a case in point, and frankly, it is outrageous to charge authors—even those foolish enough to pay for it—$799 for the setting up of what are ordinarily free social media accounts.

Balboa Press does not do a good enough job of persuading authors who wish to self-publish to use their imprint. Authors might be just as well going directly to one of the Author Solution group of companies and thereby cut out the additional inflated charges which seem to be built into the Balboa Press packages.

Balboa Press has a great deal of work to do with the first few books that come out under their imprint. Right now, I do not see any real evidence that I am going to see anything more than another book by Author Solutions (ASI) and that is not what Balboa Press claim to be selling authors.

42 Comments

Even if you’re extremely passionate about your work, everyone wishes to be able to make a living or at least get a return on their investment for their created work, but making a little over $2 from a retail starting point of $17.95 is pretty pathetic and a complete rip off.

I was a participant at the Hay House Writers workshop ( it cost me thousands – it was a cruise) The reality of what Hay House really is is NOT what they represent themselves to be.The workshop was the worst run event I have ever been at. The marketing was very mis-leading. Hay House does pretend to be a caring loving group. Trust me that is not what you get after the sale. My experince was costly and I do not feel I got what I paid for. When people on the crusie voiced their opinions about how unprofessional their writers workshop was they were ignored. They did not even provide workshop evaluations unill months after the event and then only through your email so we could not give feedback without them knowing who was giving it. I woudl stay away from Hay House. It’s a shame that what Louise Hay built is being turned into a company that has forgotten the valuse they preach on the radio and in their books…

Balboa Press is a scam. Hay House should be ashamed of themselves for misleading people into believing that is who they are working with instead of Author Solutions. The cost is ridiculous and the work they do such poor quality it is a tragedy. And the writer’s workshops are sadly a scam as well. Just a way to drum up business for Balboa Press. Sure a couple books might get picked up but what about the harm being done to everyone else who get’s ripped off and misguided into working with a disreputable company?

I really agree. Hay House should totally be ashamed. Why is it publishers who work in fields that are supposed to be empowering and ethical end up being exactly the opposite themselves? Its mind boggling.

thank you for exposing this. I was considering signing up, after having the phone calls from the US. So glad to find this very valuable information out after being a Hay House fan for years. I’ll now be looking for something more businesslike

I published with Balboa Press in 2012 because my book was an inspirational genre and I wanted it to be in the line of vision of Hay House and allow the possibility of being picked up by them. I paid around $3,000 for a middle of the range package which included a website etc. My experience with them was shocking to say the least, it didn’t take me long to realise I had been duped into a company that was green, inexperienced, unprofessional and was dealing with brain-dead idiots with mistake after mistake. It took them 4 months to actually take my files and have everything ready. I couldn’t customise things as I thought I should be able to, everything was BASIC. The bookmarks were cheap and nasty. It was a horrible experience. If I went into every detail I’d be here all day. I ended up getting 70 free books, $1,000 refund (for the marketing materials) and to top it all off they didn’t even market my book as you think they will. STAY AWAY. I have rebranded and am re-publishing with CreateSpace for FREE and the royalties are higher and they now have free expanded distribution channel. All up its going to cost me $20 (for editing gigs on Fiverr) to publish my book. You do not need a fancy publishing company to sell books. Save your money guys!

WOW! awesome response… I think you just saved me from making a big mistake. i had a funny feeling about them, it seemed like there was TOO much love and care..i guess because they didnt have my money yet. and what is with all the calls from the US when balboa apparently have an division in Australia?

My thoughts exactly. I’ve completed a book & a quarter of a sci-fi trilogy (possible quadrilogy) & was going with Bookpal (lucky I didn’t). I was researching Balboa press & decided to send off my details & was immediately called from the U.S. Seemed a tad pushy to me so I won’t be travelling that road.

Yes, yes, yes! I have two titles self published for zero to little initial outlay, having created my own blog, FB pages, twitter account, etc. I was considering Balboa for the same reason, to be picked up by Hay House. I think now I’ll simply keep marketing, keep writing, keep publishing, and think about pitching directly to Hay House in about a year.

Thanks for the comments folks. Just went to one of the workshops and was considering going with Balboa to upgrade a Kindle book into print, but also had some niggling doubts. A few writer friends recommended I do some research before joining and I’m glad I did. Will definitely go with free Create Space now.

Thank you so much for this information . I too was about to get roped into their sales tactics. My eyes are well and truly opened. I am so grateful to have done a little research on them before proceeding. So where to go next? All suggestions and advice greatly appreciated.

Hey, what you wrote and passed it seems like time has stopped, we are now in 2017 and I experienced verbatim what you passed in 2014, unfortunately after a year of waste time –

My book seems to be cut into pieces in the Kindle. When I asked and begged to fix the book, they told me they did not run Amazon, and Amazon has their schedule to make the repairs after I paid them $ 4,400 – I did not get anything from them, not even one book sold !!

I’d love to hear from you how you got away from them ?? Have they returned your materials? Have you transferred your website? (I also come for a website).
I look forward to your help.

I would be happy to receive any kind of help or advice from your experience,

I’m scanning this for dates closer to today and found your comment. I have been researching Balboa press and see lots of problems written about. June of 2017 wasn’t so long ago. It would be hard to believe that things would be so different today Feb 28, 2017. Thanks so much for posting your experience. You have saved me. I’m sorry to hear about what you are going thru. Thanks again, Julia

ASI is very subtle about letting prospective authors know that many of these imprints owned by traditional publishers are actually wholly run by Author Solutions. Often it’s a ting piece of text at the bottom of a webpage or buried deep in the website.

wow thanks for this valuble info. I just hung up the phone with a rep and she will be calling me back to make arrangements. I always google feedbacks and this is what I needed to hear. Ive been using Magcloud for my books, I love the printing, I do have to find ways to get it out there, but I have full control. thanks jo

Getting the call back tonight from Balboa and just doing my usual research before laying any money out. Will continue with my own self-publishing strategy using Publishing e-books for Dummies which is excellent and a lot cheaper by far. Good luck, everyone

Thank you SO MUCH for this article. I am selling a property I have and some of the earned money would go to Balboa press… I have been a web developer and graphic designer for many years before I started as a Life coach, and I really know how easy it is to set up a digital book and upload it on Amazon. I would try balboa only because they promised they would show me how to make sales. all the rest that they provide are indeed useless… I thought balboa could be a good connection… do you have any other options to suggest? because although the book I uploaded on Amazon is good, it did only one sale: the one I purchased in order to see if the system was working properly…

Hallo Mick, please could you give some advice: I was going to sign with the one mentioned above, but had doubts, now confirmed. Is Lulu or CreateSpace still the best option? So much time, research and effort is going into my book that I really don’t want to make big mistakes with the publishing and marketing. In Southern Africa, the challenges are a great adventure as it is, don’t need more lions feeding off my carcass! Thank you kindly, sunny regards.

I get lots of requests like this through the comments section, so many that it is not always possible to provide individual replies. Every author is a unique circumstance and what works for one author may not work for another.

Lulu and CS are right for some authors prepared to go the DIY route to self-publishing, but it means taking on a great deal yourself and also possessing a skillset to properly use what those platforms offer. I think my rating of Balboa and where they are placed in the TIPM Publishing Index reflects my opinions and those of other authors commenting here.

Indie publishing is a great adventure, and some authors require a lot of help and hand-holding, others have the time and skills to work with DIY platforms. I can’t and don’t recommend companies as being suitable choices in comments because I don’t know the ins and outs of an author’s position, writing, skills, aspirations, budget etc. That’s why I direct authors to the TIPM consultation page. Only there can I assist them in the way they deserve, and that’s one on one direction.

thank you all for your thoughtful comments. you sparred me the grief of having to figure out for myself that it was a really BAD DEAL… they’ve been writing to me for about a year- and I let it go cause it was kind of like an alarm clock on snooze that helped me get some writing done… anyway, thanks for the heads up…

Thank you so much for sharing this information. I was just about to be excited about being a part of this company but I just couldn’t understand why they will give you a proposal then expect money before seeing the contract. These are huge red flags. I will back down from my goal for a minute and find a better way. You are a lifesaver. Thanks again.

I agree with comments. My experience with Balboa Press, one book published was an expensive one. I was very disappointed with the quality of the softcover book. I’m about to close the my book website they administer and have just published a site of my own. I have another book ready to publish and will now look at options mentioned, thank you for all of your comments and information.

I too published with Balboa a year ago now. My experiences throughout the editing/publishing phase was not all that great. It began with an enthusiastic call to me from Balboa which made me feel that my book was indeed one that needed to be out there for people to read and I was encouraged to even do a Hay House Radio interview (at my own costs of $2000 – so I refrained on this) but after I signed on the dotted line that’s where the enthusiasm from Balboa ended and my communications with the from then on were frustrating in that I often got no replies to emails and message left on voice mail, most of the time they called me it was to get me to pay for more services. The total cost to me ended up being $7000 of which $2000 was for the ‘Google Ads’. In the year since I published I have sold 11 books and these have all been to people I actually know! So not one sale has been the result of the Google Ads that costs me $2000.
If you are contemplating going with Balboa all I can say is be prepared to either throw away your money and do it just for the experience of writing a book. Balboa have listed my book on other on-line bookstores such as Amazon but that is where their service ends. My daughter went into a local bookstore and asked if they had the book or could get it in and when they did a search for it they said it didn’t appear anywhere for them to source it. So I have now approached their buyer and have been advised that the best way for an author to get their book into the store is to go through a book distribution company and she gave me the names of some here in Australia. I was under the impression that Balboa would be responsible for the book distribution but it appears they only go as far as listing it with on-line stores and they have told me that if a physical book store wishes to stock it then that store must contact Balboa.
So it’s getting rather complicated and of course engaging yet another company in the process of selling my book reduces even more so the small amount I will gain from any sales. So don’t think that in paying for your book to be published that your money is being invested and will give you a return eventually because unless you are prepared to get out there and market your book in a ig way (which in all probability will costs you more money) then your book will no doubt be just another that has allowed Balboa grow fat at a writer’s expense.

I read carefully the result of your experience with Balboa Press, unfortunately I am in the same situation with them now, after paying them $ 4,400 and after spending a year of my life with them, they caused me great damage by publishing my first book on Amazon in a “broken” “Torn pieces into pieces” the client could not see the book only parts of it.

I ask them in recent days to disconnect from them and get back to me the files, website and other materials that belong to me.

I’d love to hear from you, and get your advice, how did you end with Balboa Press ?? In what way ??

I read carefully the result of your experience with Balboa Press, unfortunately I am in the same situation with them now, after paying them $ 4,400 and after spending a year of my life with them, they caused me great damage by publishing my first book on Amazon in a “broken” “Torn pieces into pieces” the client could not see the book only parts of it.

I ask them in recent days to disconnect from them and get back to me the files, website and other materials that belong to me.

I’d love to hear from you, and get your advice, how did you end with Balboa Press ?? In what way ??

Stay far far away from Balboa Press. These people are evil! They take your money, provide such a poor level of service to you that you are forced to terminate the contract, then they keep your money and refuse to refund it. Do not fall of any of their sales tactics. Helen Summers is particularly dangerous. After robbing me of $6300.00, she suddenly disappeared. I urge you to research online about Balboas lethal tactics. There are dozens of pages and websites dedicated to Blaboa Press “survivors” – people who have been ripped off and hurt by them.

Does anyone recommend a good self publishing company? After doing research of a few companies including Balboa press I’m back to square one *sighs*. I was offered a contract with Austin Macaulley but they drag their heels… I just want my books published and me having control…. any recommendations would be sooooooooo appreciated.

I was recently contacted by a Balboa Press salesperson, Pat Stone. Luckily my father was a very successful salesman in his time so I aware of Pat Stone’s, if that is her real name, game. American accent, claiming to be phoning from the Phillipines. Pat seemed to be alternating between soft and hard sell tactics. She was good, but made one too many classic mistakes in her pitch. I wasted one hour and four minutes on the phone attempting to milk her for information on what Balboa can actually do for me. The best she could come up with was to say that Balboa will pitch my book to a Hollywood film producer. I looked him up on the internet. There are a ton of videos of how to pitch to these people yourself. I don’t know how she sleeps at night. Thank you for providing this forum. It is very useful. I only hope people get to it before Balboa gets to them.